A big part of my personal story is that I grew up as a stutterer. I came from a family of stutterers: my father, my brother and one of sons also have been stutterers. Stuttering comes with a stigma attached to it. People feel uncomfortable around a stutterer because they don’t understand it. They want to help, but just don’t know how.
Growing up as a stutterer, I felt intense embarrassment and shame, even though I had absolutely no control over the fact that I had this impediment. I was one of the lucky ones who have essentially recovered from this childhood trauma. (And that is what it was…traumatic.)
When I saw the movie The King’s Speech, all the feelings of shame came flooding back to me as I witnessed King George’s struggle with his personal identity, which had gotten wrapped up in the story of stuttering.
I have realized that my struggle with (literally) having a voice growing up has been a huge part of my personal story. I do think that it’s behind my strong need to have a voice out in the world today.
You see, I truly believe that our stories matter. Each of us live with the paradox that we are alone but we are all connected. Our stories connect us. Especially in this day and age where this country is so divided, it is time that we share our stories so that we see that truly, there is more that connects us than divides us.
This is our collective journey.
When I share my personal story, chances are that you will see something in it that will resonate with parts of your own story. Sharing stories of our struggles and our empowerment connects us and nurtures us.
I am at a new place in my life…another crossroads. As I’ve shared with you, in the past year, I’ve lost my mother and closed my primary business. Both events impacted me on a deep, soul level. Both my mother and my business, Art of Cloth, were deeply tied to my identity, which is now shifting, changing.
Recently, an associate shared this statement, which resonates deeply with me:
We cannot be ourselves by ourselves.
Think about it. We are fully ourselves when we are reflected back by another. Whether it be our loved ones, our work associates, our friends, our customers, our spiritual community…we need others to really, fully be ourselves.
It means that we don’t have to do this alone.
In fact, we are not meant to do this life thing alone.
So, I’ll start by showing up honestly and telling my story…I have a lot of material to share, lol. And then, I would love for you to do the same. Share your stories, let’s get a conversation going. So that we can be more of ourselves. Trust me…it’s really fun!
Feel free to email me anytime at rose@rosecorrick.com and tell me your story.
With love,
Rose
